Home
by cr4ckthe-sky
Summary: "We're going home. And we're staying there this time." Babydoll/Sweet Pea. Alternate ending. Friendship pairing.


The air was unseasonably warm as Babydoll pushed open the heavy door and ran outside, Sweet Pea trailing close behind. Her lips parted slightly as the crowd of men entered her vision, both girls' faces instantly falling.

"Dammit," Baby breathed, her voice coming out in a whisper.

Sweet Pea made a choked-off sound low in her throat as she stared straight ahead. "This can't be. We did everything right."

Her hands were shaking as Babydoll, surprisingly calm, went over the list quietly. "Map, fire, knife, key... And one thing more..." Babydoll paused. "One thing more."

Sweet Pea kept her eyes locked on Babydoll's face in confusion, her brow furrowing slightly as her friend struggled to figure out the final item. Babydoll opened her mouth to speak when Sweet Pea interrupted her by grabbing her wrist and ducking further below the stone wall.

"There is no fifth thing. We got what we needed. We get out of here now." Her voice was strained and wavering, her body still shaking from their narrow escape.

Babydoll frowned, parting her lips to speak again as Sweet Pea tightened her grip on the other girl's wrist. "No. There is no damn fifth thing."

Sweet Pea swallowed, composing herself as Babydoll blinked, face impassive.

"We get out of here together. We can sneak around those cars and maybe throw a rock or make some noise or scare a cat. Hell, they're not looking at us. They won't even know we're there." Sweet Pea gripped onto Baby's hands as her friend's face turned dubious.

"Babydoll, please." She gave a shaky smile. "This'll be easy. You're a fast runner."

Baby swallowed as she glanced back at the men, then down at her own small hands clutched in Sweet Pea's delicate pianist fingers. Her eyes skated up to Sweet Pea as she stared, Sweet Pea shaking slightly from being crouched so long.

When Babydoll finally spoke, her voice was barely audible. "We'll never make it. They'll find us in no time."

Sweet Pea grinned almost desperately, shaking her head repeatedly back and forth. "No, no, they won't. Do you really think Blue wants it to get around that one of his girls stabbed him, stole from him, and escaped with another? They'll hush it all up."

Baby frowned, her eyes continually darting back and forth between the group of men and Sweet Pea's pleading face.

"I don't... I... I don't have anywhere to go." Her stoic expression wavered slightly, and she bit her bottom lip to keep calm.

Sweet Pea squeezed her hands tighter, her nails almost digging into Babydoll's skin from anxiety.

"You can stay with me. Stay with me and Mom and Dad. We'll both tell them what Rocket said. You can tell them how you protected us, all of us." Sweet Pea's eyes widened slightly as she heard faint sounds from inside, sounding suspiciously like running feet.

"Babydoll. We have to go. Now. Please."

Babydoll snapped out of the reverie she had drifted into, her gaze drifting back to her friend's, hands still limp in her tight grip. She looked back at the door and the men still oblivious to their position and opened her mouth again to deny Sweet Pea when a louder noise erupted from the staircase inside and Sweet Pea jumped up from behind the wall, not letting go of Babydoll's hand.

She ran around the wall as quietly as she could, the click-clacking of their heels masked by the men's drunken chatter, Babydoll's noises of protest swallowed in the wind.

When they reached the gate she kept a hold of her friend's hand, fumbling for the key in her hand and shoving it into the keyhole, turning the lock as quickly as her shaking fingers could manage and half-dragged Babydoll from the exit, closing the door behind her and stuffing the key and chain into the pocket of the apron she was still wearing.

Babydoll made a strangled noise as she ran behind Sweet Pea, still connected by their joined hands as the sound of a door flying open echoed out from the club behind them. Sweet Pea shook her head, digging her hand harder into Babydoll's, refusing her to let go.

"Don't look back!" She hissed under her breath, running down the sidewalk towards the countryside. "Don't look back."

Babydoll had no idea how long they ran before they reached a field behind a large white farmhouse and finally stopped, exhausted against a huge maple tree. Sweet Pea fell to her knees and looked up at the sun rising in the sky, laughing once and still holding onto Babydoll's hand. She looked over at her friend who was still standing, but looking down at her with a tired smile on her face. Babydoll closed her eyes and squeezed Sweet Pea's hand, finally letting go to walk over to the clothesline a few feet away and quickly grab dresses for them both, Babydoll's a little too big but hidden by the coat Sweet Pea found in the laundry basket near the ground.

Sweet Pea smiled as she adjusted the collar on her friend's jacket, smoothing the shoulders and sighing. "If anyone asks, you're my sister now."

Babydoll smiled up at her, one of the biggest smiles Sweet Pea had seen on her face in everything they'd been through together. "Where do we go now?"

Sweet Pea slid an arm around her shoulders and held Babydoll close to her side as they walked quickly out of the field and back onto the main road, her fingers squeezing the top of her friend's arm as the farmhouse disappeared behind them and the sun grew larger and brighter in the sky.

"Home." Sweet Pea closed her eyes and sighed lightly, Babydoll looking up at her friend's finally calm face as she finished her thought."We're going home. And we're staying there this time."

And they did.


End file.
